Federal Police capture “La Barbie”

As widely reported, Federal Police captured Édgar Valdez Villarreal, aka “La Barbie” in Lerma, Mexico State, in an operation that involved 1,200 police officers. The Ministry of Public Security said that they had started tracking Valdez in June 2009. He was said to be the chief enforcer of the Beltrán Leyva cartel, and one of the figures who was trying to assume leadership of the cartel after Arturo Beltrán Leyva was killed by Navy marines in Cuernavaca last December. Valdez is a U.S. citizen and is under indictment in the U.S. The Mexican Government offered a Ps. 30 million reward for his arrest, and the U.S. government had a US$2 million reward out for Valdez. (Excelsior 8/31)